Zhangjiakou, China, February 15, 2022: China’s brightest star at the Winter Olympics, Eileen Gu Ailing, won a second medal in freestyle skiing at Genting Snow Park H & S Stadium on Tuesday morning.
Gu added a silver medal in women’s freeski slopestyle to the gold she won in the women’s freeski big air on February 8.
The 18-year-old phenom finished second behind Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland, whose best score of 86.56 came on the second of her three runs.
Gu’s best score, 86.23, came on her third run. Although it was the highest score of the final round, it could not dislodge the Swiss from top spot.
Gu scored 69.90 on her first run and 16.98 on her second, when she fell near the end of the rail section, before finishing strongly to book her place on the podium.
Kelly Sildaru of Estonina won the bronze medal with a highest score of 82.06 – the best of the first round.
Gu, who rose to prominence by winning two gold medals (halfpipe and big air) and one silver (slopestyle) for China at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne two years ago, spoke of her last-run heroics again to make the podium.
“It’s so, so special,” she said. “It really came down to the last run again. I don't know why I keep doing it to myself. It doesn't make it easy for myself, doesn't make it easy for my coaches. My mum has a heart attack every day, so it's definitely not the easiest. But happy that I was able to push through and turn that pressure into fuel and it feels so, so good.”
She said her goal coming into the Winter Olympics was to win one gold medal and have one more podium finish – so she has already achieved that target going into her strongest event, the halfpipe, on February 18.
“Feeling really good right now and super excited to see what the next couple of days bring," she added.
Assessing her overall performance on Tuesday, Gu said: “I was feeling a little bit tired. I did my first and second run, I almost felt like I wasn't fully in it, I wasn't in the zone, I wasn't feeling that rush, that excitement. I felt almost too calm which sometimes doesn't work out to the best. I'm one of those people that kind of needs that pressure."
As a role model, Gu says her mission in Beijing is more than medals.
“My biggest goal is to inspire young girls in China and worldwide to have interactions with the sport, to be able to try skiing.
“It's such a niche sport, people haven't heard of it. So, to have a young girl sitting at home watching TV, and the first time they hear about free skiing they hear about it from a young teenage girl, a young bi-racial teenage girl who can kind of reflect themselves on the TV. And they'll be like, 'Hey, she looks just like me, she's just like me. If she can do it I can, too.' And so I think that is so important.”
Regarding her motivation, she said: “Out here I'm competing for myself. I'm the one who put in the work, I'm the one who put in the hours, blood, sweat, tears and all that."
Photos: FIS Freestyle Skiing
